Monday Morning QB: A look back, A look ahead

Here are five good things and five not-so-good after re-watching Indiana's 48-47 victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

THE GOOD

1. A win - That's all it was. A victory. A victory where several defensive starters were either suspended or injured. A win where the Hoosiers were downright bullied at times by an Football Championship Subdivision team that went 6-6 a year ago. But if Indiana is going to get to that magic six victory mark and go bowling for the first time since 2007, you can't give this one away. And that's what the Hoosiers came perilously close to doing.

(Rules mandate there must be four other good things about the win.)

2. Jordan Howard - So replacing Tevin Coleman may not prove as difficult as one would expect. Howard - the gift that arrived after UAB's short-sighted decision to pull the plug on the football program - averaged 7.2 yards per carry en route to three touchdowns and 145 yards in the win.

3. Nate Sudfeld - Playing his first game since shoulder surgery 10 months ago, Sudfeld approached 400 yards through the air. He made throws downfield that were missing from the playbook after his injury last season and even picked up a key first down with his feet in the fourth quarter that kept a scoring drive alive.

4. Griffin Oakes - The sophomore kicker seems capable of stabilizing a glaring weakness in last year's Hoosier team. He converted both of his field goal attempts and was a perfect 6-of-6 on PATs. He displayed kickoff distance that some thought was lacking, rarely allowing the Salukis to set up return attempts.

5. Marcus Oliver - It's not easy finding any bright spot on the defensive side of the ball for IU, but the sophomore from Hamilton, Ohio did force a pair of fumbles and finish with 10 tackles.

THE BAD

1. The Defense - Sit down, this could take awhile. The Hoosiers were depleted, with as many as four starters and several more key reserves announced as suspended just minutes before kickoff. Add in an injury to safety Chase Dutra and Indiana was missing nearly 50 percent of a projected starting lineup. BUT, giving up 659 yards (no seriously, 659 yards) to an FCS team at home is simply inexcusable. Watching Adam Fuehne rumble untouched through the secondary for a 68 yard score and see Daquan Isom roam free for an 80-yard score brought back too many memories to defensive debacles this program has unleashed in the past. The 40-second, five-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the final minute that nearly led to the Salukis sneaking out of town with a win.

WHAT'S AHEAD

Week 2 opponent Florida International pulled a week-one surprise by beating in-state rival Central Florida, 15-14. The Panthers blocked a late field goal attempt and shut out the host Knights in the second half in the victory. Third-year coach Ron Turner (former Illinois boss) has gone 1-11 and 4-8 in his first two years in Miami.

Week 3 foe Western Kentucky survived a late two-point conversion attempt to hang on and beat Vanderbilt on Thursday, 14-12.

Indiana's final out of conference foe, Wake Forest, opened with a 41-3 victory over Elon.

AROUND THE BIG TEN

Northwestern earned the Big Ten Helmet Sticker of the week by beating Pac-10 power Stanford in the opener 16-6.
Penn State lost to in-state foe Temple for the first time since 1941 so for as bad as things seemed in Bloomington on Saturday there's that.
Purdue allowed two late touchdowns, and two pick-6's by the same player in the game, in a 41-31 loss at Marshall. Overall, though, the Boilers did do some good things in the loss and look much better than a year ago.